


Eric Bittle's Guide to Practical Magic

by honeysuckers



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Reading Tea Leaves, Slice of Life, Tarot Cards, Tasseomancy, Vignette, Witch!Bitty, but like. actual witchcraft not fantasy witchcraft, irl witchcraft, kitchen witchcraft, theres no plot tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-01 18:58:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19183741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeysuckers/pseuds/honeysuckers
Summary: Mama taught him to tie luck into the laces of his skates before competitions, to stir happiness into his hot cocoa in the chilly months, and to read the cards, the tea leaves, the curling smoke. The night before they drove to Samwell, Mama kissed his forehead and placed a deck of tarot cards in his hands. Bitty kept it tucked in his pockets long after Mama and Daddy started their drive back south.Bitty is a witch. Not the type who wears a pointy hat or rides on a broomstick—the real kind, the type who reads tarot cards and bakes with spices according to their correspondences.





	1. Prologue: The High Priestess

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! While fantasy magic is fun and all, I wanted to write something about Actual Real Life magic. I've been practicing witchcraft for four years now, but I am in no ways an expert and the portrayal here may not match up with other witch's experiences.

Bitty remembers the languid summer afternoons he spent stretched out on the porch, the low hum of a record playing inside and the sweet warm air mixing with the sharper scents of Mama’s burning incense. He would lay there, listening to his mother’s calm voice mingle with her client’s, her reassuring words drifting through the open window. There were always fewer clients in the summer when the oppressive Georgia heat kept people close to home, but people still came to Mama for help, for advice. 

Bitty remembers playing in the kitchen when Mama’s regulars came by. They would let themselves in, smile at him and comment on how big he’s growing, or congratulate him on a recent medal, and disappear into the sitting room for Mama to read their cards, or their palms, or to answer their questions with a cup of tea.

Bitty remembers sitting next to Mama as she flipped pancakes, the two of them humming along to the radio. He asked her how she saw things in the pretty deck of cards she used and how she knew what the tea leaves said. She chuckled, handing Bitty a stack of pancakes. 

_ They tell you what you already know, _ she said.  _ Just in a way you can understand. _

She taught him to tie luck into the laces of his skates before competitions, to stir happiness into his hot cocoa in the chilly months, and to read the cards, the tea leaves, the curling smoke. The night before they drove to Samwell, Mama kissed his forehead and placed a deck of tarot cards in his hands. Bitty kept it tucked in his pockets long after Mama and Daddy started their drive back south.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter [@honey_suckers](https://twitter.com/honey_suckers)!  
> I'm always in need of help editing and have no friends who are into check please, so if you feel compelled to do so, shoot me a dm


	2. I - Baking with Intention

_ “Intention is what unites the mundane and the magical: without a strong intention, basil won’t bring you protection, rosemary won’t bring you love. When working magic in the kitchen, you must infuse your own magic into the food. The ingredients alone will do nothing but provide nutrients.” _

🜂🜃🜁🜄

Bitty braced himself against January’s freezing cold as he walked to the Haus to bake the first pie of the new year. His bag was weighed down by gifts Mama and Daddy gave him in Madison and the snow turned his walk into a slow trudge. As beautiful as Samwell was in the winter, he was a southern boy at heart and the chill always got to him.

He finally reached the Haus, staying fully wrapped in scarves, hat, and gloves until the front door was securely shut behind him. The Haus was already filling up with students returning from winter break; Bitty could hear Shitty talking animatedly in the living room and see Ransom and Holster in the kitchen. 

“Bitty!” Ransom caught sight of him unceremoniously trying to untie his snowshoes and bounded into the hallway to give him a bone crushing hug.

Ransom’s voice alerted the rest of the Haus, who descended onto Bitty. The air lit up with warm conversation as Bitty recounted his visit to Madison, as Ransom and Jack talked of Canada, as Shitty declared that a pie was necessary.

Bitty beamed at Shitty. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

Finally free from his winter clothing, Bitty stepped into the kitchen and began unpacking his bag. He had several jars of jam (some his mother’s recipe, some his aunt’s), enough dried herbs from the garden to last months, and honey enough for a small farm stand. Nestled at the bottom was a tin of Mama’s favorite tea blend and his rolling pin— _ his _ , a hefty marble affair that held a chill much better than the wooden one he had stashed at the Haus.

As the rest of the team drifted in and out of the kitchen, Bitty set to work ensuring he had all of the ingredients he needed for a pie. He opened the fridge to see a bag of green apples and a bottle of Canadian maple syrup sitting squarely on the shelf. A note, written in a distinct scrawl, read:  _ for Bitty only! _

“Oh, Jack,” Bitty exhaled as he pulled the items out. “You didn’t need to get all this!”

Jack was folded into one of the kitchen chairs, a book perched in one hand. He looked up with a faint smile. “The team needs pie.”

“You’ll get the first slice, then.”

Usually Bitty gave the first slice to whoever helped him bake, but this pie he needed to make alone. The team still had half a season left and Bitty wanted luck on their side.

Bitty began with the crust, mixing the dry ingredients first. He stirred in cinnamon, drawing out protection, safety on the ice. He added allspice and nutmeg for luck, ginger for confidence, focusing his energy on his intent. He remained concentrated on it as he finished mixing the dough, finally setting it aside to chill. He moved onto the filling, peeling and cutting up each apple before macerating them in maple syrup. He pulled the luck out of the apples, adding his own sweet intention with the syrup.  

All that was left to do was wait for the crust to finish chilling, so Bitty sank into the kitchen chair across from Jack and pulled up his Twitter. He had a half typed reply to a question about his most recent video when Jack cleared his throat. 

“Checking practice tomorrow?” It wasn’t quite a question. Bitty looked up at Jack, but he was still reading his book.

Bitty made an exasperated noise. “Yeah, alright.”

“Good,” Jack replies with another ghost of a smile.

🜂🜃🜁🜄

After dinner, Bitty served the pie, cutting it into even slices and passing it out on the Haus’s mismatched plates. As promised, he gave Jack the first slice.

“Dude,” Holster said around a mouthful. “Why’d you use apple, nutmeg,  _ and _ allspice if they all mean luck?”

“Triple luck, bro,” Ransom interrupted like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Three’s lucky too, isn’t it?”

The rest of the team chimed in about lucky numbers, the conversation growing in volume. Bitty didn’t have the heart to say that the allspice and nutmeg were mostly for flavor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on twitter [@honey_suckers](www.twitter.com/honey_suckers)


	3. II - Tea Leaves for Dummies

_“Tasseomancy, the act of reading loose tea leaves as a form of divination, uses personal interpretations, symbolism, and intuition [. . .] As much as a general consensus on symbolism may impact a reading, personal connections to the imagery are vital for accuracy.”_

🜂🜃🜁🜄

The shriek of the kettle boiling cut through the still kitchen air just as the front door of the Haus opened. Bitty jumped up from his textbook reading to turn off the stove, colliding halfway across the kitchen with Jack as he was walking to the sink to refill his water bottle.

“Uh, sorry--”

“Oh goodness, I’m sorry--”

Bitty quickly maneuvered around Jack to turn off the stove. The kettle’s high pitched whine tapered to silence and Bitty turned to face Jack, opening his mouth to say something. He fell silent when he actually got a look at his captain’s face. He looked exhausted, his face hard with stress.

So, he grabbed two mugs instead of one.

“You want some tea, hun?” He asked gently. “I’ve got some lovely chamomile if you’d like to try it.”

Jack blinked at him. “Oh. Could you do a, uh, reading? With the chamomile?”

Bitty nodded. “Yeah, it’s a loose tea. Do you want me to do a reading for you?”

Bitty had done a few readings for his teammates. Shitty got really into his tarot reading and Bitty spent the better part of an hour explaining the nuances of the cards. When he showed Holster tasseomancy, he burned his tongue on the scalding tea and complained about it for the rest of the reading. Jack had never asked for one, though.

“Yeah. I want to see how it works.”

Bitty smiled and replaced one of the mugs with a teacup and saucer. “Well then, I’ll explain it to you.”

As Bitty explained how he prepared the tea, why a teacup with a round bottom was necessary, what teas worked best, Jack stood close and silent, nodding along.

Bitty didn’t want to question why Jack asked for a reading, not yet. He was stressed, that was obvious, and Bitty hoped he could provide a good distraction as much as he wanted an accurate reading. With two cups brewing, they sat down at the kitchen table. Jack’s knees knocked against Bitty’s under the table as he stared into his teacup.

“Do I drink it?”

“Not yet. You need to have a question first.”

“Oh.” He furrowed his eyebrows, concentrating on the tea as if it would tell him something right now. “Do I need to tell you?”

“Only if you want me to interpret the tea leaves,” Bitty said with a small laugh.

That earned a small smile from Jack. “Okay. What will senior year be like?”

“Now focus on that question and drink!”

They sat in silence as they drank, until Jack was nearly done and Bitty stopped him.

“Now,” Bitty said, reaching across the table and placing his hands over Jack’s on the teacup, “you swish the tea leaves around and turn it over onto the saucer.” He guided Jack’s hands, flipping the teacup onto the saucer and holding their hands there. He felt warm, suddenly, from the tea or maybe the touch, and withdrew his hands. “Turn it three times clockwise and flip it back over.”

Jack did as he was told, turning the teacup over and cocking his head as he looked at the leaves. Bitty stood up from his chair and moved to stand behind Jack, looking into the cup as well.

He pointed first to the thin line of tea that wrapped nearly around the rim of the cup. “Here, see this? The rim is the nearest future, so the beginning of the year. This line, it’s fairly straight and uniform, it could be a horizon line. You might try stepping out of your comfort zone or get a new hobby.” He reached over and turned the cup in Jack’s hands, pointing out a clump at the bottom. “This one here looks like an acorn, which could mean success or new beginnings at the end of the year.”

Jack pointed at a small shape on the side. “This one looks like a lightbulb.”

Bitty nodded, leaning in closer to see. “Yeah! Ideas, inspiration, things like that. It’s all very positive, new opportunities everywhere.”

Jack hummed. He looked calmer, some of the tension had gone out of his shoulders over the course of the reading. Bitty was almost pressing into his side, leaning over him to look into the cup. It took more effort than he would’ve liked to tear himself away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the only way to read tea leaves, and isn't entirely what I do even! If you want to try it yourself, find the way that works for YOU!

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on twitter [@honey_suckers](https://twitter.com/honey_suckers)!  
> I'm always in need of help editing and have no friends who are into check please, so if you feel compelled to do so, shoot me a dm


End file.
